Details
Movie Description
Gary Cooper is Hollywood's perfect hero, the very embodiment of integrity and grace in this greatest of Westerns. As a newly married town marshal, he must balance an innate sense of justice and duty with loyalty to his beautiful new--and pacifist--bride when he is left by an ungrateful town to face a gang of deadly outlaws alone. As we watch spellbound, film time is real time as the showdown grows ever closer. HIGH NOON is a masterpiece that is frequently interpreted as a parable about artists left to "stand alone" and face persecution during the HUAC Hollywood blacklisting. However, Howard Hawks allegedly devised RIO BRAVO as an answer to the film's "wimpiness," and John Wayne once declared HIGH NOON as un-American--he was apparently offended by the ending of the film, which shows Sheriff Kane removing his badge and tossing it in the dirt.
Synopsis
As Sheriff Will Kane prepares to retire from his law-making, gun-fighting duties and marry his pacifist girlfriend, he receives word that a man he sent to prison has been pardoned. Kane initially escapes, but returns to protect the town from this killer and his band of outlaws only to find hostility and resentment among the uncooperative townsfolk.
Film Notes
HIGH NOON was an original selection to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1989.
The New York Film Critics chose HIGH NOON as Best Film of 1952 and named Fred Zinnemann Best Director of 1952.
Jack Elam, who would make a career out of being an often drunk minor character in Westerns, is the man in the drunk tank in HIGH NOON.
A made-for-TV sequel was aired in 1980. "High Noon Part II: Return of Will Kane" starred Lee Majors in the Gary Cooper role, joined by David Carradine, J. A. Preston, Pernell Roberts, and M. Emmet Walsh.
A colorized version of the film is available.
John Wayne once declared that HIGH NOON was the most un-American movie he had ever seen. Wayne was apparently offended by the ending of the film, which shows Sheriff Kane removing his badge and tossing it in the dirt.
The deluxe 40th anniversary video edition was digitally remastered and includes The Making of High Noon, a behind-the-scenes documentary narrated by Leonard Maltin, a hardbound book, The Complete Films of Gary Cooper,' a limited edition collector's reproduction of four original lobby cards and poster and an individually-numbered gift box.
The laserdisc includes an audio essay, a photo essay of stills and storyboards and the original theatrical trailer.
Industry Reviews
"...Filmdom's definitive dusty-street shootout..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (07/19/1998)
"...A classic Western..."
Sight and Sound - Geoffrey Macnab (03/01/2001)
"...The almost silent final 15 minutes have more excitement than most of today's volume-cranked blockbusters can even dream of..."
Total Film - Ceri Thomas (04/01/2001)
"...Gary Cooper forged a new kind of hero as a lawman left swinging in the wind. Also innovative was its use of real time..."
Entertainment Weekly - Entertainment Weekly Staff (01/11/2002)
"[A] new kind of American fable: the socially conscious western..."
Premiere - Premiere Staff (12/01/2003)
"Director Fred Zinnemann's iconic Western plays like a Johnny Cash song..." -- Grade: B
Entertainment Weekly - Jeff Labrecque (06/20/2008)
Quotations
"When the hands point up... the excitement starts!" -- marketing line for the film
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